Portable conveyer.



V. W. SINTON.

PORTABLE CONVEYER.

APPLICATION msn JUNE 1o. 1916.

Patented Jan. 2,1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

V. W. SINTON.

PORTABLE CONVEYER. APPLICATION min JUNE lo, 191s.

Patented Jan.2,1917.' l 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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Polman; coNvEvEn. APPLICATION FILED JUNE I0. ISIS- y 1 210 993,. 4Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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V. W. SINTON.

PORTABLE CONVEYER. APPLICATION mio JUNE lo. 191s.

1,210,993. Patented Jan. 2,1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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VICTOR WALTER sINToN, or BELFAST, IRELAND. Y

PORTABLE CONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

Application led J une 10, 1916. Serial No. 102,975'.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, VICTOR WALTER SIN- TON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of Belfast, Ireland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Conveyers, of which the following is a specication.

This invention relates to portable conveyers, principally intended for military use, for transferring goods such as ammunition and provisions over ground or Open spaces from one point to another, as for example from outposts or depots for the wagons and carts to trenches and positions in the firing lines. f

It has often been found necessary hitherto, to convey goods such as ammunition and provisions by hand-to the trenches from the nearest point reached under cover by the carts, particularly in places where it is not expedient or possible to lay down a permanent structure for conveying purposes. If a simple form of conveyer could be provided which `could be installed for effecting the transference of goodsr in such places, and could be removed easily and quickly when finished with, it might be of great use while also avoiding to a considerable extent the exposure of men to firing when engaged in transporting work in the ring zone. l

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a portable conveyer which can readily be installed when and where required, is suitable for working over a wide range of different distances, and will enable goods to be conveyed expeditiously across open spaces.

The conveyer according to the present invention is of the type wherein a Wire is used passing over pulleys, the goods being attached to it as required by means of clips which are capable of being released automatically. If a closed or endless loop of wire were used, eitherthe terminal points would have to be at a fixed distance apart, or additional drums would have to be provided for taking up the slack in the wire when any less distance than the maximum one was to be traversed, and such a construction would not be convenient for practical purposes. In the preferred construction therefore, the wire is wound in convenient single lengths on drums, each end of each length having a detachable connector such as a spring hasp or clip by which the ends of the wires can be connected together or to staples or cross bars on the drums as may be required. Any suitable wire may be used, such for example as plow steel wire having a diameter of one-twelfth of an inch, and ,A

a safe tensile strength of about 2,000 pounds. rihe lengths of wire may be about 1,500 yards each, and drums may be used which can conveniently carry such a length of wire coiled thereon. The drums are interchangeable in position in a frame, and are erected for use with a length of wire passing from one drum out to a guide pulley at a place to be reached, and back to another drum at the starting point. from one drum to the other until all the wire is wound off from the first drum. rIhen a further filled drum is put in the place of the first, the wire ends are connected, and the winding is continued in the same direction until a complete; length of wire has been coiled on to the receiving drum. It is then disconnected, an empty drum is brought into its place, and the winding is continued on to that drum until the winding-off drum is empty and has to be replaced by a full one. The process is thus repeated, each drum as it is lilled with wire being transferred'to an intermediate position until it is required for use in paying out its wire again.

The accompanying drawings show by way of example one suitable construction according to the invention.

In the drawings :-Figure l is a side elevation of the winding apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the guide pulley and its frame, and Fig. 4- is a plan view thereof. Fig. 5 is a detail view. Fig. 6 shows in sectional plan an enlarged view of one of the winding drums, the central supporting stem, and the winding clutch. Fig. 7 is a side view, Fig. 8V a face view of a. brake or checking device acting on a drum in the unwinding position, and Figs. 9 and 10 are-detail views of brackets for supporting the drums.

A frame structure l of any suitable form, adapted to stand upon and be fixed to the ground, carries a stern or column 2, for example in an extension 3 which may be hinged to the main frame at l, and held extended by ties 5 with hooked ends engaging with pins 6. About the stem there swing three brackets 7, one of which is seen in section in Fig. 6, these brackets resting one on another, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, and the lowest on a collar 66 on the stem,

Then the wire is wound off l or on a cross member of the frame. Two of the brackets 7 are cranked upwardly or downwardly, preferably .one up Iand the other down (Figs. 9 and 10), so that their arms lie in the same horizontal plane as that of the middle bracket. In each bracket an arm or spindle 8 is secured, for instance by a set screw 9, and around it turns the hub of a drum or reel 10. The drums may be of any convenient form for winding the wire upon them; Figs. 1 and 2 show them as plain drums, while Fig. 6 shows a drum formed of side plates with transverse pins 11 riveted therein to form the winding surface. Each drum 10 is held on its spindle 8 by a collar 12at the outer end secured by a set screw 13 so that it can be readily removed when required. At its inner end the drum has vpressing against it a checking sleeve 15 sliding over a key 14 on the spindle, and pressed against the drum by a spring 16. The stem 2is cut square inside each bracket 7 as seen in Fig. 6, and a spring-pressed block 17 sliding in the bracket bears on the flats of the stem tending to `hold the bracket in any one of four positions equally spaced about the stem. The four positions for the drums are marked I, II, III and IV, in Fig. 2. The drums when inpositions II and IV stand idle, but in positions I andIII the drums are held as follows: In position I, a rod 19 sliding ina socket 18 on the extension 3 of the frame structure, engages in a recess in the end of the spindle 8, and is moved into andfout of engagement as required byjany suitable means, as for instance .by a vertically extending lever 20. In position III, a rod21 sliding in a sleeve or socket 22 which is mounted on the frame 1, by means of a bracket 64 and nut 65, engages in the recess at the end of the spindle 8 as seen in Fig. 6, being pressed inwardly by means of a lever 23 pivoted in a bracket 24 on the frame` 1, and connected to the rod 21 by a pin joint at 25. On the sleeve 22 slides a hub carrying a chain wheell 26 and a clutch member 27 adaptedto engage by projecting pins 28 in recesses inthe end of the drum. Between the members 26 and 27 the hub is -grooved at 30, and pins projecting inwardly vin diametrically opposite positions on a curved arm 29 on a lever 31, engage in the groove 30; the lever 31 is pivoted at 32 on the frame 1 and has a handle 33 at its end; by operation of this lever the clutch 27 can be engaged with ordisengaged from the drum in` position'III. The chainl wheel 26 is actuated by a chain passing over the sprocket wheel 34 on-a cross shaft 35 at the end of the frame l, the shaft v35 being turnedvby mea-ns of crank arms and handles 36. In this way the drum in position III can be turned to wind up the wire thereon. vThe wire is carried around a lhorizontal guide pulley 37 on a light Vframe l38 which can be run out to the required position and secured there. The pulley 37 must be strong and light, like a bicycle wheel for example. A convenient frame structure is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The frame 38 has curved skids 40 to travel over the ground, the 'guide pulley 37 being carried upon the stem 39 which is normally vertical, while a hinged member 4l is designed to serve as a handle or draft att'achment'but can also be used to fix the frame when in position. The hinged member 41 may for instance consist of arms Ipivoted at 42`on the frame at veach side, and carrying sectors 43 with holes therein for locking the arms 41 to the frame members 40 by set screws or pins Vat 44 Awhen the arms are either in a raised Oria lowered positiong, the arms 41 when in the lowered position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, form legs for the frame and serve to secure it in position by means of pegs 45 driven yinto the ground 'and hooking over the cross bar or handle 46 which extends between the arms. The dotted lines in Fig. :3 indicate the raisedfposition of thearms 41, wherein they are used for pulling the structure over the ground. v j

In Fig. 3, one of the carriers forthe'goods, ammunition, and so forth, is indicated at 47, attached to the wire49 by a clip 48. An automatic detaching device 50 forthe clips 47 is provided on the frame 38, anda similar one is provided on the frame 1 for removing the carriers at the return end of the wire. The constructionof vthe carriers with their clips and automatic detachers forms the subject of a separate patent application Serial No. 102,976 filed 10th :June 1916, and need not therefore be described more fully here.

In order to lcheck the running out of the wires around the pulley 37, a braking clip isiprovided on Ythe frame'38, consisting of a pair of jaws 51 pivotally mounted yat 52 on an extension 53 of the frame 38, as seen in plan in Fig. 4, andas seen' from the end inFig. 5. The jaws are drawn together by` a spring 53a.

At the unwindin'g'end, the drum y10 inthe 1st position may also beprovided with a brake whichis automatically appliedthereto if the outgoing run of wire becomes slack, as for example if themen pulling out the frame 38 falls. The brake device forthis purpose is shown in Figs. 7 and v8. 4The wire 49 passes over a cross'bar 54 or -a roller extending between two lever arms vpivoted at 56 on lugs on the extension member 3 of the frame. A vpair `of yarmscarrying brake shoes 57 which can bear' on-'the disks ofthe drum 10, 'are pivoted on axes 58-andvnormally pulled together by a spring 59. The lever arms Vhowever have a rearward extension 60 which presses apart two inclinedfaced tail pieces 6l of the brake arms 57, so long as the pull of .thev wire 49 keeps the lever armsin an approximately horizontal position as in TFig. 7, thus holding the brake shoes apart and ,out of Contact with the drum 10. Directly however that the wire 49 becomes slack, the lever arms 55 can rise permitting the brake arms 57, to come together `against the drum '1.0, stopping its rotation. y f

In setting upthe apparatus the method of working may be as follows: The frame 1 carrying the wire drums is fixed in position, a filled drum 10 is placed at position I and an empty one at position III, while a filled drum also-stands in position IV. There is no drum at present in position II. The wire from the filled drum at I is looped over the guide pulley 37 and secured by its free end to a staple or one of the cross bars 11 on the empty drum at III. The carriage or frame 38 of the guide pulley 37 must now be drawn across to the desired place, in atrenchor otherwise,at which goods are to be deposited. Supposing that the distance to be traversed is. 300 yards, then 600 yards of wire will be pulled out in setting up the apparatus, leaving 900 yards on the rst drum at lI if it originally carried 1500 yards.` The frame 38 is fixed in position, and then the clutch Q7 is engaged in the drum at position III, and the winding can commence. Carriers 47 filled with thematerial to be transported, are attachedV by clips 48 to the wire 49 at frequent intervals, and are dragged with the wire along the ground between the despatching and receiving stations, being detached bythe device 50 or by hand when they reach the receiving station, then emptied, clipped on to the wire again, and thus sent back in order to be detached and filled again at the despatching station. When all the wire is wound olf the first drum at I, the winding is stopped, the end of the wire is detached from the staple on the drum at I, and the filled drum from position IV is swung forward on its arm around the stem 2; the end of its wire is clipped to the rear end of the first length of wire; the spindle with the empty drum is pushed around to the vacant intermediate position II to await use for winding on another length of wire when required. The winding can now continue, and the next change is made when the joint in the wire comes to the winding-on drum at III. This drum will now be full, and the clip is released, the driving clutch 27 and the spindle lock 23 are released, and the Aspindle with the filled drum is pushed forward around the stem to position IV so as to permit the spindle with the emptied drum from position II to come into position III for winding. The wire end is clipped to the staple on this empty drum, and the winding can proceed, until the last winding-off drum at position I has been emptied of wire, when the filled drum from IV is moved forward to take its place. There are thus only three drums and-two lengths of wire, the wire being wound from one drum to another, while a third is in an intermediate position either empty and ready to come forward for winding-on, or full and ready to come forward for winding-off again alternately.

The invention is not limited to this particular arrangement, but it is a convenient one, and provides a construction which takes very little head-room, the drums being all in the same plane and turning about horizontal axes.

The maximum distance to which the guide pulley can be taken with the arrangement before described when only two filled drums are used, is half the length of the wire on a drum, say 7 50 yards. Longer stretches of wire could be used however, or extra drums could be carried for providing additional sections of wire to make up to any length.

V"For insuring the stoppage of the winding when the clip at the end of a length of wire reaches the drum at the return end, a lever arm 62 may be provided projecting at right angles from leverv 31 so that it will push open theclutch of the winding mechanism each time that one of the spring clipsor hasps'atthe junction of two lengths of wire, comes before the winding-on drum. The hasp itself or a `projection thereon engages with the sides of a slot at 63 in the lever through which the wire can pass freely.

In place of a plain wire, obviously a .stranded wire or cable might be used if required, and the carriers or the articles themselves to be transported might be attached to it or carried by it in any convenient way. The carriers 47 may be hung on the wire in any convenient manner, and the carriers themselves may be of any suitable type to receive the materials to be transported.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a portable conveyer the combination of a plurality of drums each adapted to carry a convenient length of conveyer wire, a winding apparatus comprising a frame, a column carried thereby, three radiating arms with means for supporting them on the column and permitting them to be turned independently around the same, locking means adapted to hold one arm in a position for paying out wire from a drum turning on said arm, additional locking means adapted to hold another of said arms in an opposite position for winding up wire on a drum supported on said arm, and a winding gear adapted to be engaged with a drum when in the winding position, and a guide pulley lwith means for supporting the same at the'other terminal station in-suc'h manner 'that vthe Wire can be passed around it; l

2. A supporting and winding `apparatus for the drums of a Wire conveyor, comprising Ea frame, a 'column carried thereby,"three radiating arms with means vfor supporting them on'lth'e .'column and permitting them l'to turn around the same, locking.means-.adapted to hold one'arm in afposition 'for 'paying out Wire from a drum turning onsaid' arm, additional locking `means adapted rto hold another of said arms in 'a .position'forV Windingup lwire on adruin supportedo'n said arm, and a Winding .gear adapted 'to be engaged with a drum when in the "Winding position, and to .turn the same, the frame being'of .such-*construction as to leavespace for the rthird arm to stand infan intermediate Iposition with' .a full 'drum upon it if on oneside, or an empty drum uponritif on `the .other side of the column in `said frame. Y

8. 1A supporting Y and `Winding :apparatus for thedrums of awire conveyer, lcomprising avframe, a column carriedthereby, .a plurality of radiating arms lwith means vfor supporting them on L the column xan'd p`ermitting them toturn around the-isarne,*slo^cky ing mea-nsgadapte'd to hold one la'rm aposition for paying out Wire from `a drum* turning on said arm, means lfor automatically checking the unwinding Vof the/Wire accord-y ing -to the tension thereon, comprising sa guide over which the voutgoing Wire fipasses, a frictional rdevice adapted v to engage with the unwinding drum, a spring tending to apply said frictonal ydevice Y*against the drum, and means for supporting the said guide and including .a member adapted to hold off the fri'ctionaldevcefso long as the tension of Vthe Wire holds saidl guide in a norm-al Working position, additional locking means. adaptedto hold `another 'of said @arms in aposition for Winding-up Wire' on 1a drum supported on said arm, and a Windingsgear adapted 'to he engaged with a drum When in :the Winding position, and 'to Vturn the same.

l. fIna portable conveyerfthe 1combination with a frame, a 'columnvoarriedrtlrerebyhaving a .portionltliereof formed with squared faces, three :arms mounted ftofturnon lsaid column Vadaptedato 'carry drums for unwindin=gand Winding upfconveyer Wire,spring pressed blocks Vcarried by said arms and adapted to bear against 'the squared `faces of the column-r in such manner: astotendY to hold the'farm's n-:anyone of thefourfpositions corresponding to uthe squared faces, not a bracketron said frame, :andmeanslonfsaid bracket for-locking one of saidarms .in one of the fro-impositions Wliihis'the Vposition to. receive adrum otconveyerwire'to be :run out, 1 a lshaft- -onf said frame, gearing: revolubly supported: ron-said shaft for driving a 'id-ruim,

means forl'ockin'g one 'of the saida'arms'. in line withrsai'dsshaft which is :inthe position for Winding, and means Y'1t-oncoupling fthe gearing t-ora' drum on .saifd varm ini the Winding position.

VICTOR .WALTER -fsrNToN- Copies of this patentnmaybe obtaineaforave een-ts each, `by acidressinggthe ommissioneroofrratents.

Washingtonync. v f 

